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The Oscars are BACK! I know that the Oscars get a lot of flack for being the organization run by old dead white guys, ok, almost dead; however, last night reminded me of the Oscars from my youth, the flashy celebration of Hollywood that for just a moment makes us feel like we are a part of Hollywood. Billy Crystal’s charm and classiness reminds me why I watch the show, and when Octavia Spencer got a standing ovation, I cried with her.

For an organization that gets passed over for not appreciating risk, the Academy gave out the first foreign film award to Iran in a time of incredible tension and animosity building between our countries. Art transcends politics, and art through movie does that through a multichannel emotional venue that combines visual and auditory elements to emphasize and create a human experience. Despite world conflicts, and at times flying in the face of them, the Oscars can bring us together.

And just a word about the best picture, The Artist, no other picture in the last five years has made me want to pay $11.00 to go see it a second time. I did for the artist. I would do it again. The experience of watching that film in the theater can’t be replaced by watching it on DVD or my Ipad. It NEEDS the big screen. It needs a group experience. If you haven’t seen it in the theater, you should. It won’t be the same experience at home. It’s about the silence and the music and the audience breathing, sighing, laughing simultaneously. Some movies have to be experienced to be truly appreciated, The Artist is that.

The Academy may justly deserve criticism for being exclusionary, but the Oscars are still the true Olympic experience for an industry that is more about art than money. Big box office opening weekends are not what these awards are about and it’s nice to remember the other side of the movies.